by the silver as my spine, esophagus, muscle, tissue and skin rapidly repaired itself.
A collective gasp swallowed the silence as I took a deep breath in, relieved to find I could once again. I spit a mouthful of my blood out onto the polished concrete floor and wiped my wet lips with the back of my dirty, bloodstained hand.
“Did you see that?” Pádraig whispered in awe as he stood beside an equally astonished Hagan.
“Aye. But, I’m wondering how she’s still standing with that dagger in her heart,” Hagan whispered back.
Horrified by their words, I looked down at my chest to see a silver dagger buried to its hilt under my left breast. “Oh shit,” I frowned as I fumbled for a moment with the handle, scared of touching it and making my injury worse. I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes tightly shut and yanked the knife out of me. My heart gave a hard, soul-shaking shudder, the pain almost bringing me to my knees, as it started beating again.
“Mother-fucking-son-of-a-BITCH that hurt!” I gritted as I dropped the bloody dagger to the floor, my eyes instantly finding Ruarc’s in my anger.
“What sorcery is this?” Ruarc whispered, confused.
Hagan unexpectedly flashed to me and grabbed me by my head, putting his forehead to mine. I was too shocked by the intimacy and his proximity to react. “Show them what is true,” he whispered calmly to me as some invisible force pushed ruthlessly at my mind. It dug deep, to the core of my very being and pulled forth the essence of who I was. Instantaneous visions and emotions from my human life soared to the forefront of my mind.
Archer. Jameson. Nikki. Styvi. Mom. Home. Color. Paint. Dance. Love. Joy. Music. Dan. Jameson. The Mausoleum. Archer. Happiness. Love.
When Hagan withdrew his forehead from mine, I drew a deep, shuddering breath. I felt my eyes flicker as they rapidly blurred with cold tears. I looked up into Hagan’s face; my anger, frustration, rage and pain completely forgotten. To my amazement, I felt like me -the REAL me- for the first time in over a month. I suddenly didn’t feel like I wanted to beat up or kill everything that moved and I sighed with the instant relief it brought to my tortured soul.
Hagan stepped to the side of me and once again I could see people in the basement. Another collective gasp echoed across the room as Hagan patted me on the back and slung his arm around my neck, almost proudly to my amazement. “Good job, Morrison,” he said quietly. “I knew you were in there somewhere.”
My only answer was an exhausted but thankful half chuckle, half sigh.
“Not sorcery, my brother,” Hagan smiled, addressing Ruarc. “Skye has curried favor with our Lord it seems. Even though she carries Amun’s mark, she has our father’s blood. She may be a bit different, I know, but she is in there. Skye’s humanity is intact. See for yourself.”
“You dare to use your Divine Power on this abomination?” one of the members of the Army seethed. “You are forbidden to use your gift except in the service of our Lord and your brethren An Dilis! You took the sacred oath!”
“Calm yourself, Freddy,” Hagan rolled his eyes. “You were going to kill her and I only meant to show you her humanity.”
“Her eyes,” Ruarc growled, abandoning his fight with Archer and walking within a few feet of me, “have no color now! Never has a Day Walker had their eye color change during rebirth. No,” he shook his head, “she cannot truly be one of us. I don’t believe it.”
“Can you not smell her blood?” Trey said in an impatient tone, then changed it when Ruarc shot him a warning look. “She smells of my father, of Archer. His blood is now her blood, as it is for all of his children, sir.”
“Dheartháir, you doubt my Divine Powers after all these years?” Hagan frowned as he addressed Ruarc again. “Never have you questioned or not believed what I’ve told you.”
“Your loyalties may be compromised, Hagan,” Ruarc said carefully, his tone changing from menacing to fatherly. “It is plain to see you have grown attached to this human, otherwise you would have never interfered with my orders.”
Hagan took a deep breath and glanced over at me, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Ruarc to see what emotion lay behind his gaze. I didn’t trust Ruarc at all; it was no secret he didn’t like me. “She